The 400 Million (1939)

Name: The 400 Million
Genre: Documentary
Released: 1939-03-07
Duration: 54 min
Cast: Fredric March, Morris Carnovsky, Sidney Lumet, Robert Q. Lewis, Alfred Ryder

Joris Ivens’s wartime documentary of China’s resistance to the Japanese invasion, cross-cutting civilian exodus and bombing with the Nationalist state’s mobilization—schools, industry, dispersed war production, foreign relief—and guerrilla fighting. Framing an ancient nation of “400 million,” it contrasts tradition with modernization and closes on the unresolved question of victory.

Watch The 400 Million online

Released 1939-03-07 · 54 min · Documentary

Directed by Joris Ivens, John Fernhout

Cast

Fredric March as Narration (voice)
Morris Carnovsky as Additional Voice (voice)
Sidney Lumet as Additional Voice (voice)
Robert Q. Lewis as Additional Voice (voice)
Alfred Ryder as Additional Voice (voice)
Adelaide Bean as Additional Voice (voice)
Lai Sek as Himself (archive footage)
Madame Chiang as Herself (archive footage)